Needle-threader



(No Model.)

W. H. LIGHTY.

NEEDLE TEEEADEE.

No. 462,147. Patented out. 27, 1891.

/N VENTOH ww@ fag BY ATTORNEYS W/ TNESSE S UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

VILTAM ll. LIGIl'lY, OF MONTICELLO, INDIANA.

NEEDLE-TH READER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,147, dated October 27', 1891.

Application filed April 7, 1891.

To alwhom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. LIGHTY, of Monticello, in the county ot' Vhite and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Needlefhreader, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in needle-threaders; and the object of myinvention is to produce a needle-threader which may be quickly and easily adj usted to a nee dle of any size and which will accurately and rapidly insert the thread through the eye of the needle.

To this end my invention consists of a needle-threader constructed substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which silnilarfiguresof reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the needle-threader, showing it applied to a needle. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken at right angles to the view shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front end View of the threader. Fig. i is a plan view of the threader; and Fig. 5 is a detail view, in side elevation, showing the manner in which the threader is applied to a sewing-machine.

4Near the front end of the case it is cut away on opposite sides, as shown, at 13, so that the operation of the threading mechanism may be seen, and from these cut-away portions or openings the members of the case are curved outward and terminate in diverging points, as shown at 11, thus forming wings which serve as guides for the thread. lVithin the main case is a smaller cylinder 15, which is open at both ends, and the front end of which is tapered, as shown at 16,'the tapering end being reduced so that the opening through it will be but little larger than the eye of a needle.

On opposite sides of the cylinder 15 are spring-guides 17, which at their inner ends Serial No. 387.920. tNo model.)

are formed into a base 18, which is soldered to the cylinder, and the outer ends of the guides extend slightly beyond the front end in Fig. 2, and at the extreme points they are bent slightly inward, as shown at 22 in the same figure. The inner ends of the tongues are secured to a small rod 223, which extends backward through the rear end of the cylinder 16, and which terminates in a ilat head 24, having shoulders on the front side, and this rod is encircled by a spiral spring 25, which is arranged between the head 2t and the base 18 of the needle-guides 17, and the pressure of the spring will normally push the guides and the cylinder 15 forward.

The threader is provided with handles 26, which extend through the slots 11 in the opposite sides of the case 10, and thesehandles are secured at their inner ends to the base 18 of the needle-guides.

Then the threader is to be used upon a sewing-machine, an arm 27 is pivoted at one end to the threader, as shown in Fig. 5, and the opposite end of the arm is pivotedin the screw 28, which is placed in the face-plate of the sewingmachine, the screw being arranged so that when the needle is at its highest point the threader may be easily adj usted to it, and when the threader is in use it is tipped up, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, where it will be out ot' the way.

The operation ot' the threader is as follows: To thread a handheedle, place the threader between the two irst fingers with the thumb resting at the back; then place the needle 29 against the needleguides, press it gent-ly to place, and draw it downward with the eye toward the point of the cylinder until the points of the tongues 2O catch the eye of the needle; then press the thumb forward against the of the cylinder and terminate in hook-likev ends 19, the points of which diverge and ends are arranged to diverge, as shown at 2l A handles 26, holding' the needle firmly in place, adjust the thread between the thread-guides or wings and against the needle, release the thumb gently, and it will draw the thread through the eye of the needle.

The operation of clamping of the thread between the tonguesY is as follows: Vhen the handles are pushed forward the tongues will protrude from the cylinder 15 and at first their points will be together, so that they will easily go through the needle-eye; but as they pass through they diverge, so that the thread is caught between them, as shown in Fig. 2, and when the cylinder is allowed to move backward the tongues close upon the thread, thus clampingit between them,anditis drawn backward through the needle-eye.

The threader is preferably made ot an approximately rectangular shape, and it may be made of' any suitable material. It may be ornamented and worn as a charm on the watch-chain.

Having thus fully described myinvention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. A needle-threader comprising a case, a

`spring-pressed tapering cylinder arranged within the case, and spring-tongues held within the cylinder and adapted to extend from the tapering end thereof, substantially as described.

2. A needle-threader comprising a case, a spring-pressed tapering cylinder held within the case, spring-tongues held within the cylinder and adapted to extend from the tapering end of the same, and tapering needleguides arranged at the mouth of the cylinder, substantially as described.

3. A needle-threader comprising a hollow slotted case having end guides diverg'ing at the points, aspring-pressed tapering cylinder mounted within the case, spring-tongues held within the cylinder and adapted to extend from the end thereof, and tapering needleguides at the mouth ot' the cylinder, substantially as described.

4. A needle-threader comprising a hollow slotted ease having end guides diverging at the points, a spring-pressed tapering cylinder mounted within the case and having handles extending through slots ot the case, springtongues held within the cylinder and adapted to extend from the end of the same, and tapering needle-guides having hook-likeends with their barbs arranged on opposite sides of the cylinder end, substantially as described.

5. A needle-threader comprising a hollow slotted case having thread-guides at one end, a tapering cylinder arranged within the case, a rod mounted in the case and arranged to enter the cylinder, said rod having a head at its rear end, a spring arranged between the rear head of the rod and a projection of the cylinder, needle-guides arranged on opposite sides of the cylinder, with their hook-like ends opposite the mouth ot' thelatter, springtongues secured to the rod which enters the cylinder, said tongues being adapted to extend from the front end of the latter7 and handles secured to the cylinder and extending through the slots in the case, substantially as described.

WILLIAM H. LIGH'IY. Witnesses: TRUMAN F. PALMER, ADDISON K. SILLS. v 

